Notes / Commercial Description:
he mountains of Summit and Nugget hops in this high gravity Imperial will thrill even the most experienced beer explorer. Savory evergreen and pineapple aromas mingle with flavors of bitter, resinous pine and grapefruit pith. A colossal rush of hoppy adventure!

1 Pint, 6 fl oz bottle purchased from Gary's in Madison for $4.99...
"San Diego-style IPA" on the green front logo sticker along with "Intense hop flavors and aromas from a unique blend of Summit and Nugget hops"...
Just recently sampled the original Green Flash West Coast IPA, which was really great, so had high hopes for their Imperial version...
Pours a lucid, clear, slightly apple-juice color with immense frothy head that soon receded, leaving a copious amount of lacing...
Smell was absolutely terrific, bursting with fresh hops, caramel, vanilla, esters, and honey...
Taste strongly complemented the aroma with a bombardment of freshly picked hops, bitter-sweet caramel, vanilla, honey, and candied sugars... The IPA taste was really on-point with this one, true-to-the style, and an above-average rendition of the genre, superb at all points, with hardly any defects except the hefty 9% ABV which was difficult to notice behind a tidal wave of fresh hops bursting with aroma and flavor... About as perfect to the style as you can get... Amazing stuff... Definitely recommended...

From a 22 oz bottle this poured a clear amber with moderate white head and good lacing. Nose of strong citrus and a medium mouthfeel. Flavor is mostly citrus hops, and it made me sneeze, the first time beer has ever done that. Long bitter finish. Alcohol quite noticeable.

Where this beer falls down a bit is mouthfeel. Most DIPAs and IPAs that appear thin in the mouthfeel department, correct themselves with a quick coating of the tongue and paralysis of the tastebuds. This one stays a bit on the watery side.

Drinkability is fairly good. The lack of alcohol taste and smoothness keep it drinkable for a high octane beer.

Not bad...I have had more memorable high octane beers in the IPA family.

Pours a crystal clear golden color with a huge thick eggshell colored head. Left a wall of lacing as the head dissipated. The smell is of grassy/buddy and citrus hops, slight pine and resin, mango sweetness. What started as a nice grassy hop aroma didn't exactly translate into the taste. The taste starts off grassy but is quickly neutralized by a sweet honey bread malt. I must say I prefer my DIPAs to be onesided on the hop side, not balanced with a sweet sticky malt flavor. Anywho, the feel is moderate, with tingly carbonation, finishes with rough bitterness. Initially the alcohol is well hidden but after a while it shows up as some belly burn. I guess as DIPAs go, this is pretty middle of the pack; not outrageously hoppy nor a sickly sweet hop booze bomb.

A - Pours an orange-golden color, lots of orangish head, alpha clumps, which dissipates slowly. Nice lacing too. Kids, this is a 5. Has all of the coloring characteristics you want out of a true iPa (P = Pale, which some brewers forget).

S - Pineapple, yellow grapefruit, with a citrus finish. Lots of pineapple ester. Little to no maltiness as expected with an imperial IPA.

T - Pineapple, yellow grapefruit, with a small citrus finish. Again, great, as the nose matches the buds. If you appreciate the taste of yellow grapefruit as much as I do, you'll love it. If not, you'll probably dislike this beer.

M - Light bitterness, syrupy, with a strong citrus finish, which compensates for the light bitterness. A vast improvement from Green Flash's West Coast IPA, which is a bit bitter and too much pink grapefruit.

D - So good. Not a session, but not expected. This is probably the fastest I've downed a bomber. Excellent beer. Maybe, maybe only Hopsickle and Lagunitas' Maximus compare to this imperial...

Somebody should send the Alstroms this bad boy. Hmm, maybe if I label it as a yeast extraction.

Pours a golden amber, somewhat light in color but with a lovely head that remains for nearly the entire glass. Smell seems all hops at first but soon enough sweet malts come through. Pine and some candied citrus. Caramel and light biscuit malt. Taste is a little too bitter, even considering the huge amount of malt flavor. A little heat comes up. Prickle on the tongue and near full in the mouth. Interesting combination of hops in this one and its not your typical west coast hop monster. A bomber is no problem but much more would be a little rough.

M: Sweet grapefruit upfront is followed by a very smooth and even floral finish. Bittering is soft and eloquent from start to finish and not over the top like other imperial ipas and fades nicely on the tongue. Touts a 101ibu rating. Nicely balanced and incredible soft bittering hop tones from 2 lesser known and used hop varieties Summit and Nugget. Big floral flavor upon warming.

M: nice rounded fullness, carbonation and smooth

D: Incredible drinkability, well balanced and goes down effortlessly. high recommend and very good enjoyability factor.

A Very nice bright, piney, citrusy hoppy aroma. Slightly long bitter lasting flavor that is quite big but not undrinkable, especially for the style. I'm somewhat surprised I could handle the 101 IBUs enough to finish this, as this was one of my very first Double IPA ratings. Pretty nice, overall, but I think I prefer Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, if its available. Worthy of a rerate however.

I have 22 ounces of fun in my hand. Here's my nightcap, so on to the beer:

Poured into an oversized wine glass, the beer is a deep chill-hazed blonde color that glows. Major hop aroma, smells of tropical fruits and a surprisngly strong chocolate scent. Not a very hoppy beer at all, nor is it all that bitter for a DIPA. The label expresses "101 I.B.U.", but it sure doesn't taste bitter. There were some piney notes, but I kept thinking about sweet treats as I consumed this. The feel seems a little thinner for the style.

Despite being a San Diego brewed IPA, it doesn't deliever as much hops as one might hope. But it sure does deliever with the booze : )

Appearance - Hazy amber with 2 inches of white froth upon pouring, which dissipates into a small cap.

Smell - Lots of raw pine initially, and then the malt aroma comes out a bit more, revealing notes of tropical fruit. The more I smell it, the more the hop aroma seems a bit off to me. Not off in an old or stale way, but more in the sense that it kind of reminds me of Pine-Sol and raw onions.

Taste and mouthfeel - Sweet, fruity notes mix harmoniously with flavors of citrus and pine from the hops, eventually leading way to a bitter, drying finish. The taste is thankfully a bit cleaner than the nose, though it still has a certain onion-like roughness to it that leaves me unimpressed.

Notes - The nose put me off quite a bit, but this is otherwise decent stuff. That being said, Green Flash's regular IPA is significantly better than this.

B-

03/03/2011:

Upon revisiting this from an extremely fresh bottle, I've come around on it. A great beer, but freshness is key. The hop character is very unique, heavy on pine and raw onion.

Poured a clear, medium-golden color into my Portsmouth Imperial Pint glass. Carbo was sparse and slow-rising. Head was light beige, creamy, and a full 1" to start. It slowly ebbed to about 1/4", leaving A-1 lacing behind. Aroma was replete with grapefruit and rindy, piney notes. Not overly powerful, but distinct none-the-less. Body was medium; no more, no less. Had a decent level of smoothness, as well.

Flavor exhibited a smidge of toasty malt, lending a subtle sweetness to the proceedings. The star of the show was the hops. They were all over the place! Lots of citrus and resins coating the mouth. Quite robust and powerful, to say the least. There was also a sharp, spicy bit of action at the finish, while the lupulins delightfully stuck in every nook and cranny. A nice treat, oh yeah! Thnx Bro!

Mouthfeel is thin. I don't like the taste they went for, here. The hop content isn't overpowering, yet it manages to be pretty raw. There's a balancing sweetness, but it's almost rotten ... kind of like apricots or pineapple gone bad. Just didn't like this whatsoever.

Copper in color, nice head, this beer almosts looks like your average Macro lager. Smell is piney with a small amount of grapefruit citrus. Taste is weak in this one. I am disappointed in the taste. Not a good DIPA by any means. Mouthfeel is average. I think if it tasted better I would be able to drink a ton of these since the taste is so weak. Overall, not impressed.

Pours a surprisingly clear, golden orange body with a good amount of off-white head. The foam retains well and leaves a decent amt. of lacing. As for the aroma, it smells like someone grew a fat vine of hops deep underground, pullled that shit out, and dripped hot tree sap onto the hops before they were used in the brewing. Earthy and fantastically fragrant, with a touch of the 'dro.

The flavor isn't a far cry from the aroma; earthy, marijuana-esque peaty malts set an undertone for the terrorizing bitter, spicy, resinous hops. Mouthfeel delivers an onslaught to the tastebuds with a medium-bodied, viscous brew that finishes with a hoppy symphony. Surprisingly, this is a beer I could imagine drinking every night of the week and not get tired of...it's compex, tasty, and, at 9% ABV, gets the job DONE.

Pours a clouded orange gold with almost no white head. Even without the head, I still rate it what I do because of the color. Nose is strong with grass and perfumed tones. Did I say it was strong with grass? Just want to make sure. Flavor is nice, but a bit too vibrant, shall we say. It sings a bit too high in my mouth at first. Of course over time I either get used to it or it calms down. I am sure it's that I get used to it. Thick floral hoppy flavor profile. It is nice, but kind of one-sided. Not massively complex, but who cares. It's nice. Feel has a decent bubble to it and the liquid is fairly well bodied. Nice to drink. Could easy go on this all night.

Enjoyed in a pint glass at O'Brien's Pub in San Diego.
A: Crystal clear and over-flowing with head. 1 finger of head remained inthe glass when I got the glass from the bartender. This subsided into a perfect coat of foam on top. Color was golden-amber, like the mineral amber
S: Marijuana - fully. Spicy aroma actually tingled my nostril!. Wow - strong hops.
T: Marijuana then garlic then a nice malt backbone. The second sip leaves a biting bitterness.
M: Tingly, a little numbing...Do hops do that?
D: Strong but very tasty.

slightly hazy very light amber with a beautiful white crown that leaves georgeous lace as it slowly fades away. i've had this beer many many times, but had taken a brief hiatus from it. when i cracked this one open, i was instantly reminded of why i really like it. hop bomb. stinky, funky, grapefruity, bubblegummy, yummy. it's hard to get much else from it as far as malt and such goes because the hops are so beautiful and overpowering. taste is just like the nose suggests, with just a little piney thing in the finish. nice and full and creamy with a hint of bitter in the finish. a couple of these bombers ,and it's nap time, for sure. gogogreenflash!!!

Pours a large frothy , white head over a slightly hazed amber body. The lacing is exceedingly excellent, and the head lasts for the duration. The smell is ridiculously intense as well, giving off citrus tones forever. Here's what I don't get yet, I usually look to label an aroma or flavor one of four citrus fruits: grapefruit (red or white), orange, lemon, or lime. Somehow, this beer has all four. Amazing.

The mouthfeel is intense without being heavy, and this is about as refreshing of an ale as I have ever had, with a dry feel and light carbonation, and an almost perfect dosguosing of the alcohol. What fun. Really. Can't wait for more.

O - Overall a great beer, very drinkable, the alcohol is well hidden; great example of an Imperial IPA. The first time I had it I remember not liking it and am glad I gave it a second chance. It&#8217;s cool to see a Double IPA come out with some different hops. I am excited to brew a clone recipe of it.